See Through
by FreyLeFluff
Summary: Fox is settling into normal civilian life, or at least he's trying. After war, something in you just craves that adrenaline you know? Star Fox was disbanded, most of the problems were solved, well, war problems. Paperwork and daily idiocy are now his life. All of that changes when he gets a strange case from Peppy.
1. Chapter 1: Post-War Bore

Authors Notes:

So, this is my first Star Fox fanfic, ever. I really hope you guys like it, I appreciate constructive criticism. This chapter was mostly I trial, I have lots of plans to change things up and include more sensory words, lots more action, and beyond.

Note, this is a WolFox story, and yes it's going to have scenes. Gore, violence, sex, romance, regret, everything. I'm planning on making this story go well. Don't worry, chapters with intense scenes will have a warning up here in the author's notes.

This is Post-Aparoid.

Enjoy!

* * *

You know, after a war, life seems a lot duller than most people would imagine. You'd think that the majority of, well anyone, would be very happy to come home after such a long ordeal, but no, it just meant more work for me. Giving a speech was also hard, because after coming back from a war you've won, you're considered a hero, and everyone wants to hear your opinion, even if you don't want to give it.

"Everyone, please, I understand your worries about how infrastructure and, society, are going to work after the destruction of many buildings, which in turn I understand made you lose your jobs, I also understand you're all shaken, but I want you to know that life will continue as normal as it possibly can. No more questions, thank you."

With that, Fox stepped off the stage, and the crowd began to murmur and whisper among themselves, questions, concerns, comments, at least they couldn't reach him.

"You did good, don't worry." Peppy was standing right there, waiting for him, only to take him to another event, which only made Fox groan a little.

"Thanks, that's the third speech I've done good on, and lost a little bit of my soul to as well, do you think people really care about my shitty opinion Peppy?"

"Fox I get it, it's boring, but you're only experiencing this now, just imagine what I've been through in terms of paperwork and public presence by now, don't complain." Peppy gave him a little pat on the back, pushing him along. "Let's go."

With that, Fox let out another very audible groan, begrudgingly shuffling along as he mumbled complaints to himself about all this. Another speech another day, right, that's how it's gonna be, and how it has been for already a week. Speech, paperwork, event, another speech, and more paperwork sleep, and wake up the next morning wishing you were sick just to get out of doing it. Even then, you'd probably be forced to do it if you couldn't give a good excuse, or good presentation over holocon, oh well, off they go..

As night approached, Fox had finally gotten away from his daily hustle and bustle and was finally at his home sweet, apartment. Yea, his apartment wasn't the most luxurious thing, but it was something, dirty, and messy, but something. You don't have much time to clean up after a day like this anyways. He grabbed himself a bottle of beer from the fridge, before plopping himself on the couch, setting up his holocam, and calling up Falco, sure Star Fox was disbanded, but he wasn't gonna lose his contact with his best friend, even if he was an arrogant ass sometimes.

"Fox, Foxxxxxx, Fox what the hell, stop staring at the ceiling."

Fox hadn't even noticed, he had been spaced out. "Oh, sorry man, umm, just called up to say, Falco I'm not gonna lie, I'm bored as hell, and honestly feel like my brain is melting out the side of my ears at this point, do you wanna go grab a drink?"

"Man, I thought you'd never ask, my blood's been boiling for some kind of action recently, sitting in an apartment with nothing but beer and daytime TV is possibly the craziest thing I've done, and that's saying somethin', I've done some shit."

That made a chuckle rise out of Fox, he took a chug of his beer, setting it down. "Meet me outside my apartment, don't be late, like you always are."

"Like hell Fox, that's totally you."

They shared a small laugh, turning off their comms. Fox went to get at least decently dressed, black t-shirt..green shorts, sneakers, and of course his scarf, that was one thing he would never leave out of his outfits. Donning a white jacket over all that, and he was out, waiting for Falco at the front of his apartment complex.

* * *

Are you kidding me, it's been fifty minutes, where the fuck is this bird? "I swear I am going to murder Falco if he blew me off.."

"...Tadaaa!"

Falco appeared right behind Fox, giving him a real good scare, one that made him jump.

"Asshole!"

With that, Falco also received a swift slug to the arm, followed by grumbling. "Did you really have to?"

Falco was rubbing his arm, laughing. "Totally worth it, I never get to see you scared. Also sorry about being late, boss made me come in to sign a package because the lazy douche didn't want to do it himself."

"Whatever, do that again though and I swear I'm gonna end up accidentally knocking you out, which you would totally deserve."

"Don't be so bitchy McCloud, come on, show me the way to the bar."

Fox let out a sigh, giving him a much lighter, and friendlier punch to the shoulder this time. "Fine. Follow me."

* * *

The walk was short, and they didn't say much to each other, though Fox occasionally brought up some small talk just to make it less awkward. Entering the bar was one of the best things Fox had done in a week, the booze-ridden air that attacked his nose, some burly men trying to arm wrestle, bartenders mixing up drinks. This wasn't a run-down bar, so they wouldn't have to deal with drugs, among other things.

"Ahh..it's so nice to get a change of scenery, not a fucking bore like a politician world."  
"Fox you complain too much, you've been offered jobs for good pay, and here I am, livin' in a shit-hole because I can't find any piloting jobs man, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna stoop so slow as to being a test pilot."

Falco took a barstool under him, facing the bartender. "Just gimme a beer, I'll take a bottle, don't care what type, but preferably more alcoholic."

Fox sat right next to him. "Ditto." He slumped a bit over the counter. "I don't know man, it just seems like life, ain't the same. No, I didn't expect it to be the same, but it's too different. I'm itchin' for some action, the more I do the same thing every, fucking, day, my blood just boils more and more. I want to do _something_ , anything."

They hadn't even noticed, but their drinks were put in front of them, well he hadn't noticed, Falco was already taking a chug.

"I feel ya, I miss our mercenary days, sure it was risky, but it was the shit man, the adrenaline was the best part of it all."

Fox took another chug, clinking their bottles. "Cheers to that man, cheers to that.."

For the next few minutes, the only sounds were those of the bar, glasses clinking, casual conversations, laughter. It was all drowned out by Fox's thoughts. Why did he have to get some much attention? For once, he wanted to be, normal, but he also _didn't_ want to be normal. He wanted to be back out there in the stars, fighting his battles, moments in which he thought he was gonna die were the best moments of his life. Maybe it was asking for too much, but who knows...

"Fox...Fox you're spacing out again, come on. You better not be doing this on purpose to try and ignore me asshole."

Falco let out a groan, tapping his bottle against Fox's head, well, more-so hitting, but not hard.

"Ow! What the fuck man!"

Okay, maybe it was a little harder than he intended, but at least he wasn't doing it on purpose.

"Sorry, but you were spacing out again, and I thought you were doing it on purpose to ignore me.

Glad to know you aren't being an asshole."

Fox was rubbing his head, wincing. "Did you have to hit me THAT hard, shithead?"

"Didn't mean to, thought you were tough though, you can take it."

Falco took one last chug of his beer, setting it down on the counter with a loud content sigh. "Better than any shitty beer I've been drinking at my apartment.."

At this point, Fox had finally managed to, figure out Falco hadn't given him a concussion, but it did hurt like hell when he hit him. "Falco, you just keep givin' me more and more reasons to both beat the shit outta you, and buy you another drink, you're lucky you're my best friend, or I would've already done the first one."

Falco chuckled a bit. "I'll take you up on the second offer then."

"..Two more please." He gestured to the bartender, finishing off the rest of his bottle with a chug. "You know man, as much as I'm enjoying today, we really outta plan more, cause I don't wanna go another week with my ears ringing from all the crowds, and hours of paperwork, I need a break."

"You and me both, though I don't need much of a break, I more-so needa actually do, stuff." Falco took his second bottle, handed to them by the bartender, and giving it a chug, which nearly brought it down to half. "Personally, I'd quit my shitty job for just one more mission, even if I couldn't find work afterward."

Fox held up his bottle, chuckling a bit. "Ditto, very much, ditto." He clinked Falco again, taking a sip, he was gonna take this bottle slowly, though the same couldn't be said for the bird.

"Maybe life'll get better, ey, just maybe, for the both of us."

"One more toast to that buddy, and throw in a soon for that."

They clinked their bottles again, both of them taking a chug, sort of silently challenging each other to a drinking game, starting with this bottle. It was gonna be a long night, wasn't it?


	2. Chapter 2: Call

Author's Note: I personally just wanna say, thank you guys so much for the support on this already guys! I've taken some advice from the reviews already, and sorry about the last chapter actually, there were a bunch of typos..and I'm not gonna lie I'm way too lazy to fix them at this point, but this chapter will at least be, well grammatically correct and not crazy confusing with commas and periods and weird spaces that weren't supposed to be there, typos, you get the point. Also to answer some questions, don't worry, chapters are gonna be way longer from now on that I have support on this, sorry about all the comma and grammar typos, and no this is not a Fox x Falco story, I'll clear this up one last time, this is Fox x Wolf, and he's gonna be in the story soon enough. (Btw, there are typos in this chapter, but they're on purpose unless they clearly aren't, then berate me, but most of them are intentional, or all, depends how well I proofread this.)

I'm really sorry about this chapter being, about 1,000 words under what I intended it to be. But I really wanted to get it out before I was crazy busy with all my Christmas and Holiday break stuff. Also, this chapter would start feeling like it just dragged on and on if I tried and make it too long. Next chapter is where the fun is really gonna start.

Enjoy!

* * *

Laughter seemed to bounce off the building walls as Fox and Falco stumbled through town. They were unbelievably drunk, but that's what 5 shots and 3 bottles of highly alcoholic beer will do to you. If it weren't for the fact that it was very late at night, they might've even been arrested for public disturbance.

"Whewwwwwieeee, youuu knoww Falcoooo, I llourve youuu, as a brotherrrr, mannnnn." Fox was slurring his words pretty badly, which only added to the evidence that he was drunk. He was totally going to regret this in the morning, but lucky enough, it wasn't morning yet.

"Sameee mannn..cannn I..crashhh, at yourrrr, placeeee?" At least it was comforting to know that Falco was just as drunk and tired, he could barely talk properly. Sure he won the drinking game, well that actually explains everything perfectly, he had way more alcohol than Fox.

"Sureee brooo, causeee you're toooo fuckinnn' lazyyyyy, to do anythingggg." Fox let out a hearty laugh, stumbling with the keypad to access his apartment complex, taking him a solid five minutes to just get the code in.

"Jesusss fuckin christtt mannn, how hardd is itttt to open a doorrrrr?" Falco pushed himself through the door, stumbling inside and almost falling flat on his face, which Fox might've actually passed out from laughter at, but he did luckily catch himself.

"Whateverrrr, don't beee so bitchyyyyy, come onnnn." Fox was actually mocking Falco from earlier, which earned him a shove into the wall, which might've hurt if his blood wasn't feeling like it was 50% alcohol at this point. Instead, they both burst out into laughter again, getting into the elevator to reach Fox's apartment. It also happened to take him about another five minutes to just find the right key, and upon entering the apartment, he just straight up collapsed on the couch. "Fuckkkk, I've beeen needingggg thisss.."

"Mhmmmmm.." Falco slumped onto the couch, thanks to Fox not actually being very big, they both fit on the couch, though he wasn't able to lay down without it becoming real awkward real fast. "Doooo I takkeeee the couchhhh tonighttt?"

Well, Fox would've responded, but he had already fallen asleep, beginning to snore. Falco chuckled a tiny bit, before closing his eyes and dozing off quite fast.

* * *

Fox woke up with a loud groan, holding onto his head. "Ughhhh, my headddddd..w..what happened last night..?" He slowly stretched himself out with a yawn, sitting up very slowly as to not give himself an even bigger headache. Falco was right in front of him, completely knocked out and snoring, he had managed to fall asleep in a sitting position. "Falco..you're such a weirdo..fuckin sleeping on the same couch as me..at least he didn't lay down."

He slowly stood up off the couch, stretching his back out with a loud crack. "Whew..that felt good. I really hope I didn't miss some event, gonna get so much shit from Peppy." Fox went to grab his holocom, looking through all the messages and calendar notifications he got. Garbage, advertisements, emails to forward to his agent and..a message from Peppy labeled urgent? Good thing it was only sent thirty minutes ago, or else he would've had a minor heart attack thinking he missed something. Fox opened up the video message, clicking play.

"Fox, I just got the weirdest case file I think ever. That's saying a lot, you know what we've been through. You may not like this, but this is related to Wolf. You know how you were questioning whether or not he was alive after that explosion to the Aparoid Queen? Well, it turns out he is alive, and he sent out a distress signal from Meteo. All I got from it was garbled words in an audio message, and a letter that reads, "This is Wolf, come to Meteo as urgently as you can, coordinates included for location on the planet." I don't know about you, but I don't exactly trust Wolf and never have. This could've very well been planted on purpose for a trap, but Wolf isn't the kind of guy to do something like this if he wants something he'd do it directly. I'm leaving this case in your hands, all files are included in the messages below, Peppy out."

Fox sat there dumbfounded, he wasn't quite sure how to take this. "This can't be real, there's no way a guy like Wolf would be asking for help unless it was really serious. If it was serious though, we'd absolutely know what was going on, because trade would become a mess. Meteo would totally be in chaos, it's not like we wouldn't notice. There has to be some ulterior motive to this, I know it."

"Fox if this is top secret you really don't know how to keep your mouth shut, do ya?" Falco had woken up and heard the entire thing. "Do you want me to pretend like I didn't hear anything now, or later?"

Fox rolled his eyes. "Good morning to you too asshole, can't spend a single waking minute without insulting me huh? No, it's not top secret, but I do think it's really interesting. Give me some second thoughts on this, you really think Wolf sent out a legitimate distress signal? Cause I'm having a really hard time believing this."

"I mean, I don't know man. Wolf may be ruthless, crazy, might have OCD, but he's not a fucking idiot. If he wanted to plant a trap, he'd do it expertly and without fault, there's no way he'd stoop to doing something this simple in my opinion. The guy isn't a bitch either, he's a great pilot and a great fighter, if this is real, there's real trouble to be dealt with."

Fox put a paw on his chin, slumping over in a thinking position. Falco had a really nice point, Wolf was never one to mess around, why would he now? It didn't rule out the possibility that this was a trap, in fact, it could have been that Wolf didn't even send the message, but the fact that it came from his com was really strange. Sure someone could've stolen his com, but then they wouldn't have sent the distress signal to Meteo, Wolf would tear them apart if he ever found them. It wouldn't make sense for Wolf to sent one out to trap Fox, or one of the other disbanded Star Fox members, because there's a possibility they wouldn't be one of the ones to show up, the message didn't specifically ask for them. Finally, it also didn't make sense for Wolf to be faking this in any way, because the message was sent from his com, he would never mess around, it was coming from Meteo, and Wolf knew how to hold his own. This was some serious trouble, Fox was certain of it now.

Another blow to Fox's head, but a lot softer this time, Falco had learned his lesson. The last thing he wanted right now was to get mauled by Fox for hurting him. "Fox, stop spacing out, it's so fucking creepy when you have a glazed look on your face."

Fox rubbed his head a bit, grunting. "At least you didn't give me a concussion like last time dickhead, I was thinking. You made a good point, I think I want to go check this out. Wanna come with?"

Falco sighed a bit, slumping back into the couch. "Fox you know that I would actually get off my ass for something like this, but I don't know man. Wolf hates my guts, your guts, and pretty much everyone's guts on our team..well what used to be our team. I know he gave us some bullshit temporary truce after feeling bad about Andross and stuff to fight the Aparoids, but I really think the blood between us did not get any thinner. If anything, I'm scared that Wolf has finally lowered his standards enough just to get his claws at your throat."

"Falco, use your brain, or whatever piece you have of it left after your recent lifestyle. Would Wolf really send it out expecting it to be us? He didn't even specify 'send team Star Fox', he just asked for help, anyone could arrive."

"Fox don't be an asshole, I am thinking. It could also be reverse psychology, that could be the exact reason he said it the way he did because he _knew_ you would show up, not anyone else."

Fox groaned a bit, slumping back and blowing a raspberry out of frustration. "I hate it when you're right Falco..but I really do think it's worth checking it out. I'll take backup unless anything goes awry. Are you sure you really don't wanna go?"

Falco nodded with a disappointed sigh. "As much as I hate to say it, I'm sure. I know I'd love it, but I feel like sitting around is the exact reason I can't go. I'd just drag you down trying to relearn all those piloting controls and all that shit.."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Falco you were the best fucking pilot on the team, piloting is like riding a bike, you'd pick it up fast. You don't have to make a bunch of excuses, just say yes or no, I'll berate you for either answer later."

Falco groaned, giving Fox a light punch on the arm. "Fine, I'll go, but only because you won't stop bitching me about it if I say no. I'm not getting anywhere near Wolf's base though, I'd rather not get the shit beaten out of me, I'll be on stand-by."

"What you do best, cause you're only strong in the sky, who would've known _the_ Falco Lombardi was such a little bitch when it comes to one on one?"

That earned Fox an even harder punch. "I can hold my own you fuck, don't tease me about that, or I'll wrestle you right here right now. Can you just tell Peppy you're taking the case?"

Fox let out a laugh. "Whatever. Though yea I'll tell him." He went to his messages with Peppy, sending one. _Hey man, yea, I'm gonna be taking the case, put me down for it._

Falco had gotten up to get a beer from Fox's fridge, already taking a sip, and sighing contently. "God I love alcohol.."

"Falco, can you go a second in your life without drinking? I swear you're gonna die just from the amount you drink."

"Whatever, I just..fucking love alcohol okay? Been a good friend for a while now."

Fox rolled his eyes, hearing a 'ping' come from his holocom. It was a response from Peppy.

 _Good to know, I was talking around the office for potential people that could go, doesn't seem like anyone was up to the task. Make sure you're careful when heading out there._

He quickly typed up a response. _You don't need to worry so much about me Peppy, I'll be heading out today most likely, cancel all my events for tomorrow as well._

 _You better not be doing this just to avoid doing your job Fox, but will do, Peppy out._

"Well..that's that, I'm gonna be heading out soon, now or never, final response."

"..Ehh, got nothing better to do, why the hell not, like old times, right McCloud?"

"Yep, just like old times."

They locked paw to wing, smirking at each other, this was gonna be fun.


	3. Chapter 3: Suffering

Author's Note: Look, alright, I am really sorry for the huge delay. Life does take up a lotta time guys, but I finally got Chapter 3 out. Fair warning, this chapter contains some mild gore and a lot of angst. Tell me what you guys think!

* * *

"Peppy for fucks sake I get it, I don't need you to be so concerned that you call me every five minutes to make sure that my trip is going alright."

Fox had been on and off getting calls from the hare for the last hour. He had been given an escort ship that would be taking him and a few other troops to Meteo. Falco had also been being a bitch for the past hour, but for completely different reasons, no one could seem to find him to get him to do his job...ugh

"Falco, you fuck, where are you?"

He had just gotten a call from Falco on his holocon, strange considering they were on the same ship.

"Yo dude, head to the main pilots bay, specifically the lookout point. You have got to see this."

Fox let out a low grumble, sighing. "Whatever, I'll be right there, but then you're gonna do your work dickhead." With that, he ended the call and began heading towards the bay. When he got there, it didn't take anything much other than a glance to see what was going on. There were ships everywhere around Meteo, almost an entire battalion fleet in size.

"Woah...Falco, what the fuck is happening here, this is insane.." Falco nodded a bit, and as Fox came and stood by his side, he turned to face him. "Fox, this isn't a trap, something serious has happened here. There's no way in hell Wolf would need this many ships if he wasn't trying to protect something big."

Fox still wasn't buying it, Wolf could've set up these ships in preparation for their Cornerian ships, he had a hard time believing Wolf had any good in him anyways. "Falco, don't underestimate him, he's a ruthless murderer. These ships could be here exactly for the purpose of catching us."

The two continued to stare outwards towards the vast emptiness of space, occupied now by dozens and dozens of ships, all surrounding one specific hotspot, Wolf's base. Fox and Falco were on the first ship that touched down in the loading dock, and consequently, the two were one of the firsts to come off the ship.

The atmosphere of this base, Fox remembered it well. Falco had always preferred the air, so he hadn't been here as much as Fox, and because of that didn't know what this place was like at its worst. It was cold, and damp, causing both Fox and Falco to feel a few beads of water drip down from their fur and feathers respectively. Each step made a memorable creak, the look of the guards as they passed sent shivers down their spines.

"I never thought I'd be back in this shithole...but here I am once again, having to face one of the people I hate most in the world." Fox grumbled that under his breath as their party was escorted by a guard, down the long winding hallways that made even Fox wonder how people here knew their way. It took them a solid five minutes of walking just to manage to even reach the elevator they would take up to Wolf's, well it wasn't really an office, he'd been there before, but it wasn't just a room either. It took Falco's voice to break the intense silence that had begun to weigh on him as they had walked.

"..This place looks like it was stomped on by a dinosaur, fuckin' dents everywhere man." Actually, now that Falco had mentioned it, Fox noticed that there were several dents that all lined the halls of the base. Even though the cold-steel forged metal, reinforced with titanium and a base diamond-alloy, was extremely strong, something had still managed to dent it, and badly at that. That made Fox's mind begin to run, what could've possibly caused such big dents, they almost broke holes through the metal.

"Alright, listen here. You are all to stay within this floor, you are not to pass the red signs labeled throughout this hallway, no one is to enter the captain's quarters without strict permission from Wolf O'Donnell himself. Fox McCloud, please step forward." That brought Fox back to earth from his thoughts, and he looked at the guard who was speaking. He stepped forward, nodding at him. "Fox, you are allowed one meeting with Wolf, if at any point during this meeting you are to leave the room, we are to assume you have finished and will escort you and the party out back to your ships. You are to drop all weapons in the designated location that you will see upon entering the room. Falco Lombardi, you are to head with the rest of the party to the armory and storage facility. You and the party are not to even glance at things that are not specified on your list, once done, you may roam only in the areas permitted unless Fox's meeting is finished, then you will all be escorted back to your ships, have I made this all clear?"

Yea, it seemed as though this had been made very clear, there were guards all along this hall, each with blasters at the ready. Falco rolled his eyes a bit at the guard, but just nodded along, and gave Fox a pat on the back. "Good luck man, you're gonna need it."

"Thanks, Falco..let's get this shit done."

* * *

Fox entered the room the guard had brought him to, and surprisingly, it didn't have anything really that special on it. It was a standard metal door that could be locked from the inside, it had an exceptionally strong lock, but so did everything else. Even the weapon dropoff wasn't anything more than a bin, in which he put his blaster in. There was a small place to hang up his jacket, on which he hung up his white jacket, leaving on only his green jumpsuit and boots.

Walking forward, Fox had to make some effort to push open the next door, it was actually really heavy, but that's not what bugged him, what bugged him was what was inside the door. A gleaming smile that he could almost see at his neck, claw marks going all down his back and chest causing him to be dripping blood everywhere, a claw-shaped bayonet at his neck, poking into it, and being threatened with death by what was on the other side, a cold, vicious figure that made his blood boil and his ears steam, Wolf O'Donnell.

"Well well well, I never thought we'd be seeing each other face to face again for a very, very long time. Little did I know, I'd be receiving a certain little fox to be helping me with my problems, huh?" Wolf stared Fox down with those red gleaming eyes, causing him to twitch a little bit from the shakes, those eyes could instill fear in even the strongest men. "Shut the fuck up Wolf, we're here for one thing and one thing only, to discuss your signal, you got that? Good, let's get to work."

"Awhh, I expected a less hostile attitude from you after all this time Fox, but it seems you've only built up even more hate for me, huh? Cute..you've always been such a feisty creature Fox, haven't you? Alright, well I didn't agree with doing this completely, but my team convinced me to have this meeting, so play nice and maybe we can come to an agreement. Sit."

Fox hated this man, so much, he wanted to dig a knife straight through his chest right now, take it right through his heart, and end him right now. That snarky attitude, the playfulness in it all, but so threatening. Wolf liked to play with death, he thrived off of misery so Fox wouldn't give him what he wanted. "Yea yea..whatever shithead, tell me why you would need to send out a high-class alert? Especially one that said you required Cornerian help."

Wolf kicked his feet onto the table, leaning back into his chair, and playing around with a knife. Fox could see his reflection every time Wolf swung that knife, which only made him even more upset, he had been at the other side of Wolf's knife more times than he could count. "Ahh yes..that alert, very well. Look, Fox, I hate asking for help, especially from anyone that has remotely interacted with your people. If it were up to me, we'd be back out there in Arwings again, finally seeing which one of us is the better pilot, but that's not the case. We recently had an attack on this base, and I imagine that you saw the dents on your way here. We're running low on supplies, the morale of my men is low, and so are my men, and I don't have the resources to keep effectively running this base."

Fox was..okay no he was not listening, almost not at all. He automatically assumed anything Wolf was saying was absolute bullshit, so he treated it as such. "Uh huh, uh huh, alright, listen here Wolf. We have no reason to send you resources, we know you're low on money so you can't pay us for anything we give you. We have just as many problems back on Corneria that require all of our men to be on deck for cleanup and rebuilding, not mention, you have such a high bounty on your head that if we were to work with you, we would risk our entire planet. You have plenty of mercenaries who would be willing to help you for cheap, so why ask us, the people who would gladly put you in a jail cell the first chance we got."

That seemed to but Wolf on a little bit of an edge, and he huffed out an annoyed sigh. "Fox, listen to me, you don't understand. I'm serious when I say I cannot deal with another attack on my base. At this point, I'd have more security in the Cornerian jail cells than I would at my headquarters, but I can't just do that cause I have my team to care for. I offer jobs for a lot of people who don't have the ability to get any, I bring in people from the streets, I own several businesses down there on the planet. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but if I go down, every, fucking company down there, goes down too."

Fox started to get a bit louder, putting his paws onto the table and standing up just a bit. "Wolf you are in no position to tell me what you need, and you are especially in no position to talk about 'caring for people', not to mention I still haven't forgotten everything you've done to the Cornerians and my team. I have no reason to tell General Pepper to send absolutely anything your way asshole, no matter how much you beg. You can't change a lifetime of behavior in a matter of months, no matter how hard you try."

"Fox, you haven't changed your selfish and hard-headed ways either you asshole, why do you think you can argue anything there! I'm asking for the help of the Cornerian military, not you or your team, I don't care how much you hate me I just want the help of your military. Is it really so hard to just put in a good word there that I need help?" Wolf had stood to match Fox's height, growling slightly as he threw his words at him like knives, but Fox wasn't done, those knives were bouncing off him, he had a shield of pure rage right in front of him.

"Wolf you shut the fuck up, I have changed in ways that you don't know, I'm not a pushover anymore. I will do absolutely anything to ensure the safety of my team and my people, you can not just expect me to come over here, forgive you, and say that we're friends again. Guess what shithead, that's not how the world works, and if you've been able to deal with this all by yourself for this long, you can deal with it now, asshole."

Wolf fully stood up, slamming his paws onto the table and digging his claws into it, matching Fox up, and causing a screeching sound to echo into the room. "Fox, you're right, you have changed. The Fox I used to know could show compassion to others when they expressed their need for it, especially if it could mean it would affect several other innocent bystanders. You're not just an asshole Fox, you're more of a monster than I could ever be because you've lost your ability to understand. Even though I've done a lot of horrible things, at least those people down there on Meteo know I've got their backs, thanks to you though I may just not be able to anymore."

Fox immediately stood up from his chair, kicking it towards the table again. "Wolf, this is done, never compare me to you, I'm nothing, like you. Nothing you do can ever fix what you've done to me, fuck you."

As Fox was getting ready to leave, Wolf actually let out a chuckle. "You know Fox, I expected you to also have grown as a person during your time in the ranks on the ground, I expected you to have been given a soul to understand conflict. I expected you to at least hear me out, I really did, but you haven't been listening at all, have you? You know what Fox, get the fuck out of my sight, and never come back. Everything I've done for you has been overlooked, don't you remember the war? Clearly, you do, cause that's all you've been bringing up you dickhead, but you're not the only one who was hurt. I almost fucking died tried to help your team get out, I sacrificed myself for you because I wanted to be done with my mercenary life, the fact that I lived meant the universe wanted me alive. I tried to quiet my life down after all this, I tried to be a better person, but you clearly don't give a shit that I did."

Fox stomped down onto the floor, gripping his paws into a fist so tightly he began to bleed, for some reason he felt an urge to cry, but he refused, not in front of this oaf. "Wolf shut the fuck up, shut that fucking muzzle of yours and stop spewing bullshit! You haven't tried to change at all, I've seen what you been doing, you've been doing drug deals in those ships of yours, this base is a megazone of criminal activity, and to top it all off, I've seen you still slaughter people in cold blood! You know what, no, I'm not putting in anything for you dickhead, you can kiss my ass. Have fun dealing with these problems yourself, you're getting nothing from us."

"Fox, I asked you for help, and this is what you do to me? I thought maybe after everything that happened, after the war, the exchanges, and our conversation, that it might be able to bring some light to what's been going, that you could look past everything just as I did for you. Guess I was fucking wrong, huh? Just get out before I decide to shoot your dumbass right in the head, or worse, you little shit." Wolf pointed his blaster right at Fox, a gleam of pure and unadulterated hatred and resentment in his eyes, though not said, there was also a slight hint of sadness in his eyes.

Fox grabbed his jacket and blaster, a powerful venom in his voice as he spoke. "Gladly, the less amount of time I have to be around you, the better. Never contact me again, asshole." The two of them had shouted so much at each other that Fox actually began to feel his voice falter. They both clearly hated each other a lot still, in a lot of the same ways. Their arguments were just like their battles, they kept sizing each other up and doing the same things but trying to do them better than the other. In reality, they actually thought very similarly, but that didn't matter now, Fox had won the final battle, cause he had the final say.

As Fox was turning to leave, Wolf looked at his knife, growling. He spoke quietly to himself. "That's it...what else am I supposed to do huh? I'm out of funding, I'm hated by the entirety of the system, I can't get any help, and at this point, I'm only second to useless. It's not worth it anymore, it's not." Wolf contemplated his knife for a moment, before digging it into his arm in an almost psychotic way, he had a twisted and horrible smile on his muzzle as he continued to dig in, cackling at it all.

Even though Fox didn't want to turn around, he didn't wanna see that disgusting face of his anymore, curiosity got the better of him. "W..Wolf what the fuck are you doing!" He rushed over to him, and almost instinctually began to try and get the knife away from. "Stop, you're gonna bleed yourself to death!"

"Who cares! I'm not needed anymore, am I?! Let me feel the pain to make up for everything I've done, I should be dead anyway, let me die, Fox, you shouldn't care about me, let me fucking die!" Wolf continued to dig the knife into himself, his cackling penetrating Fox's very soul, making him shiver. He had a look in his eyes of pure insanity, and it made Fox almost back up in fear.

Wolf dug the knife all the way into his arm, and stumbled back into his chair, immediately causing it to fall over, his head slamming down hard onto the floor with a slight crack. The sound turned Fox's blood cold, and he was frozen in place like his feet just got encrusted in a cold ice of terror. There he was, a knife stuck into his arm as blood began to pool out onto the floor from both the arm and his head, and he couldn't do anything, his body wouldn't let him move.

Fox was staring right forward at the scene, though he wasn't sure what to make of it. Something in him had just snapped, time had seemingly stopped during all of this, and he felt as if he decided to move, everything would restart and he'd have to witness something that he could never live with. If he moved, he'd be stuck in an endless loop of experiencing the scene over, and over again.

Why him..? He never intended... "Fox, Fox what the fuck happ- Oh, my, fucking god! Someone get a medic in here, right now!" Falco had just burst through the door to check out all the commotion and was greeted to something that, actually made him gag. Yet, throughout all this, Fox didn't move, he felt like he wasn't even breathing. This was all his fault, in a moment of adrenaline, he had insulted and berated Wolf, making it known that he didn't care about his opinion. He felt like he was floating in an ethereal void, the world seemed to darken around him, this was all his fault, this was all, his fault.


	4. Author's Update

Author's Update: No, I'm not dead, and no, it will not take NEARLY as long to get Chapter 4 out as it will for Chapter 3, I promise. I already have it in progress and I think you guys will like it, it's gonna explain a lot of the events that happened in Chapter 3 that will make it way more clear as to why things happened the way they did. Thanks for all the support, guys! -Frey


	5. Chapter 4: Reconciliation

Author's Note: Whew boy, here it is guys! I had a sudden streak of writing inspiration so I actually got the chapter done about a week before I intended to finish it. The next chapter is definitely gonna have some more..how shall I say it..friendly scenes? Very, friendly scenes? You get the idea, the warning will definitely be more, detailed, in the next chapter. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

A bright white light shone overhead, causing sudden blindness. Adjusting to the room, metal walls, medical equipment, and..Falco. As he spoke, his voice almost seemed to be traveling through water, finally reaching Fox in a spike of clearness. "Fox...Fox, Fox! Fox, are you with me dude?"

Fox let out a groan, holding his head a little bit, and slowly beginning to sit up on the bed. "Yea..yea I'm fine..what happened? My head feels really hazy.."

Falco nodded a bit, taking a seat by him. "You hit the floor like a rock dude after seeing Wolf like that, you've been out for like..a solid 5 hours. Due to some stupid rule or something like that, we were forced to stay at the base until you woke up, but you're not gonna be happy. Leon wants to have a chat with you in the interrogation room about what happened."

Fox sighed a little bit, sort of just kicking his feet at the edge of the bed and staying silent. That's right, Wolf did..that. Why did Wolf do that, what exactly did he even say..? That he, 'deserved to fucking die', that's one line that Fox vividly remembered. Fox had seen so much worse in war though, usually, something like that wouldn't have made him feel so..bad. Something about that specific moment though, it hurt, it really hurt to see.

"Fox for once in your life can you not space out while I'm talking to you? This is fucking serious, Leon is suspecting that you're the one who hurt Wolf, and that would not bode well for anyone here if you can't convince him otherwise." Falco looked legitimately upset, crossing his arms at Fox..he didn't actually believe Fox had, done that, did he? "Falco, dude, come on. I saw Wolf take out a knife and dig it right into his wrists, I never touched him once during all of this. I tried to leave after telling him I wouldn't, help, him..shit.." Fox thought back to the argument, he hadn't seen at the time how desperate Wolf was for help, the only thing he had felt back then was anger and resentment. Never once in his whole life had Wolf asked for help, and now of all times he did, and Fox immediately rejected him without even trying to listen. Everything that had just happened, he had caused it, directly or indirectly, it didn't matter. "Fox, snap out of it, I don't think you'd be one to do that, I've been friends with you for a very long time. The problem here isn't me, it's Leon, he doesn't know who you are really."

Letting out a small groan, Fox managed to stand up, though a bit wobbly. He had actually hit the ground really hard when he passed out, so right now he wasn't in the best state either. "I get it, Falco, let me just go talk to him, I need some time to think as soon as possible." Falco had a very concerned look on his face as Fox left, but didn't say anything, not yet.

* * *

"Peppy, something is going on between Fox and Wolf, the situation is pretty bad. I didn't tell him about this yet because he would freak out, but when I saw him he was babbling absolute nonsense combined with comments about Wolf. Apparently, he did cause Wolf to do what he did, but I wasn't able to figure out any of the details." Falco was currently in one of the isolated bunking rooms, having been forced in there by the guards, only after some protest though.

"Oh dear..Falco, I need you to make sure Fox stays okay whenever you see him, I'll discuss with him after he comes back to Corneria. Please, stay safe you two." Falco sighed a little bit, nodding, turning off the holo-comm. "You too Peppy, Falco out."

* * *

Fox was shuffling towards the room Leon had set the meeting in, even though finding it was nearly impossible due to the size of the base, lucky enough he had been given a map. It was a tiny bit suspicious that no one was sent to escort him to the room, right now he could easily run..but something kept him from doing so. Not only would it cause multiple diplomatic problems, which meant lectures and stacks upon stacks of paperwork, it also meant that he could never see Wolf again.

"Took you long enough Fox, get in here." Leon was actually right outside the door, waiting for him. Fox didn't even say anything, he just went right on in and sat down in his chair, his shoulders slumping over. The atmosphere was tense, and weighed right down on his back, causing him to sigh heavily.

"Fox, I need an explanation right now, what did you do that could've possibly caused the situation that just happened. Your idiocy greatly out-measures anything I've ever seen, and beyond such, your stubbornness makes me not only disappointed but angry in you all collectively." Leon had his arms crossed, giving Fox those soul-piercing dead eyes that nearly felt like icicles drilling into his own eyes.

"First off, Leon, stop trying to read poetry to me. You don't have to try and sound like an English doctorate holder, it makes you sound both annoying and like an asshole. Secondly, I don't know what happened after a certain point, I completely blacked out. All I remember was me trying to walk away after a very heated argument, Wolf suddenly going all psychotic and taking out that knife and...you get the point." Fox just couldn't mention the moment, it made his stomach bunch up into several knots, making him want to throw up but not being able to.

Leon let out a grumble, sighing loudly. "Alright Fox, let me tell you what repercussions are going to come out of this conflict. You're most likely going to be put into an isolated correctional facility for at least a week if any more serious harm comes to Wolf out of this. If Wolf dies, I will personally hunt you down and kill you for causing it, but before I do you will be given a life sentence. I will absolutely tug at every string I can possibly reach just to see you rot inside those metal walls that you longed to put me and my team in."

Fox felt his blood begin to run cold, ice scratching against the walls of his veins, causing him to hurt. All this pain and suffering that had just been caused was absolutely his fault, the burning and passionate hate that he had once harbored for all these men had now turned into absolutely crippling guilt. "Leon, please, I don't want anything bad to happen to Wolf. Sure, I was a huge dick when I didn't hear anything Wolf had to say, I can fully admit that. Though, just cause I didn't listen to him, doesn't mean I want him to die on a hospital bed knowing that the one guy in his life that could have possibly helped him not only rejected him but had a smile on his face when he saw his nemesis get put in the grave!"

As Leon watched on, he saw Fox's face get completely flushed red in pure anger..but absolutely none of it was directed at him or Wolf. Fox was upset at himself, tears beginning to stream down his face as he continued to rant out his emotions, paws clenched into a fist so tightly it was almost making him bleed. "Every time I see that man I only see all the regrets I have of not putting him in prison sooner, I have regrets of not putting him to death the first chance I got, because now if I see Wolf hooked up to a life support machine I feel like I'm going cry right onto him and attempt to say sorry. The only problem out of all of this is I can't say sorry! I've done too much to not only harm him but all of you, nothing I can do can ever make up for all of the mistakes I did. At this point, I do wish Wolf would die, just so this fucking knot in my stomach would finally have a chance to disappear!"

"Fox, shut up for at least 20 seconds, can you? You're going to pass out from all the oxygen you're using talking to no one in particular, take some deep breaths. I don't know what's going on between you and Wolf, that's not for me to solve at all, I'll let all of the charges I was going to push on you go on one condition. You need to go talk to Wolf right now, or I can promise you, I'll make your life hell." Leon had managed to keep calm through all of this, he wasn't one to lose control of emotions anyways, but that outburst had certainly surprised him. Fox was definitely more emotional than Wolf, but this was something else, he was definitely hurting, but about what?

Fox had plopped right back into his seat, he hadn't even noticed that he had begun to stand when letting all of that out, but now that he had he was completely worn out. "...Alright, Leon...I'll go talk to Wolf..." He tried to stand up again, which ended up being just as wobbly as when he first woke up from passing out just a few hours ago. Leon didn't bother to stop him to tell him where Wolf was, nor did he bother stopping him to try and continue their conversation. If this situation was to ever get solved, it would be between those two.

* * *

A heart rate monitor was steadily beating right next to him, everything felt like it was floating and cold, not to mention that he had the shakes at completely random times. Since moving actually hurt a lot, whenever he started to shake, it felt like someone was jabbing needles right into him. The only thing that took him out of those cold, horrible trance was a door opening and a voice seemingly calling out his name. "Wolf...Wolf..Wolf, please, tell me you're okay, Wolf, come on, wake up." Fox was right next to Wolf, sitting next to him.

"Mmmm..aghhh, my wrist..who is i-...Oh. It's you huh? Seems you've probably come to taunt me haven't you, don't lie to me, or I'll call security on you right now and we'll never speak again." Wolf tried his best to move as little as possible when he turned his head to look at Fox, a very upset frown on his face.

"Wolf I'm not here to taunt you, I'm already upset enough at myself for not listening to you when you called out for my help, not to mention seeing you right now is hard enough for me. I came here to ask you one single question Wolf, why? Why did you do all of that, right in front of me, were you trying to get me to pity you? Were you trying to make me even more upset? Were you..actually trying to die?" Fox was trying his best to hold himself back, he wanted to cry, scream, move, he just wanted to do anything to try and make himself feel better.

Wolf growled a little bit, there was nothing in his eyes but animosity for Fox. "Fox you have no right to come in here and question what I did when what you did literally ruined my life. You've walked around this place Fox, you've seen the state that my base has gone into, without the additional help of an outside force I will be forced to let everyone here go and slowly spiral into my own hole as I try and live my own life. You know what I am Fox, I'm a galactic fugitive with a massive bounty over my head, the minute anyone sees that it's me and sees that I'm completely defenseless, I'm dead either way."

Fox gulped loudly, feeling his stomach begin to churn, the knot tying itself even stronger. "Wolf I never intended to send you to death, but after our history, I wasn't exactly all happy and willing to help you out. You've caused me to lose so many of my friends and-" Wolf grabbed right at Fox's shirt collar, bearing his teeth at him, and growling loudly. Wolf was one of those guys who didn't need to talk very loud often, cause everything else he did was so intimidating...honestly, he was just really intimidating in general.

"Fox, shut that muzzle of yours before I have to do it for you, you've said enough bullshit. I'm going to give you one chance to say something that actually has some meaning behind it, or I'm calling security, every word that comes out of you right now is going to be held against you." Wolf had a very dead look on his face right now, which Fox knew meant that this was about as serious as he could get, he had one shot.

"Wolf...I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you. I know that me saying sorry probably doesn't mean anything, but to me it means I've somehow found it in myself to forgive you. What you did in that room showed me how much you're actually hurting for help, I was the one person in your life that could've helped you due to the power I have on Corneria, but I immediately rejected you without a second thought. I don't want you to die Wolf, I want you to have a second chance to redeem yourself for everything you've done, people can change. You were right though, I haven't changed at all, I've been the same old annoying dickhead that thinks they're way too special to help out anyone who he doesn't know or like. I've never even considered trying to see your side of the story and all the help you've given me in the past, you almost died for my team just to get out during one of our battles, and this entire team I've taken...I've taken _you_ for granted Wolf, and I'm sorry. I don't expect us to be friends any time soon, it's not time yet for us to try and put everything completely behind, but please, for the sake of not only my people but also yours, no more fighting. We've defeated most of the galactic threats that opposed both us, and if another one arises we may very well go back to being enemies, but right now I just want to stop. I'm tired, Wolf, I don't wanna do this anymore." Well..he did it, Fox let out all of his emotions right out into the air, and Wolf had heard everything. The room was completely silent, Wolf still had that dead look on his face, looking right up at the ceiling. The entire time he had been talking, Fox had been shaking and almost on the verge of tears, though he didn't know why.

"...Fox, I will allow you at my base for exactly one more day, if you choose to leave now we'll never speak again. If you stay, we will discuss tomorrow anything that needs to be said. For now, get out of my room, I don't wanna see your face again today, got it?" Though Wolf was trying to stay completely emotionless, he had a small smile creeping up his muzzle, Fox was an emotional babbling dumbass, but he at least occasionally knew what to say to make people feel a bit better.

With that, Fox let out an extremely relieved sigh, feeling a gigantic pressure being immediately lifted from his shoulders, and the knot in his stomach finally seemed to untie itself. "Thanks for giving me a second chance too, Wolf, see you tomorrow."

* * *

"So, you actually convinced him to talk with you tomorrow?" Falco was kicking back in one of the bunking rooms, which Fox had now been put into as well. "Like, you're telling me you managed to actually make that guy smile?" Fox was currently getting changed into his night time outfit, which was just boxers and a t-shirt. The two had seen each other naked, and no they did not feel attracted to each other, but they sure as hell teased each other sometimes in the locker rooms. "Yea, I don't know how I did it, but somehow I managed to say the right thing. Wolf and I may be the worst of enemies in the end, but we do actually think very much so alike. I suppose when I was saying what I did, it was just as cathartic for me as it was for him. Hell, even when we were arguing in that room I swear it felt like a synchronized dance. By the end, before I passed out, we were almost saying the exact same things. It was like we were trying to beat each other in a game of 'who can escalate this the furthest', haha."

Fox plopped onto his bed in the room, which considering the past two nights he had been sleeping on examination tables and carrier ship bunkers, it felt like he was laying on the fluffiest cloud in the universe. "Ohhhhhhhh yea...this is exactly what I needed after the past few days, a good sleep.."

Falco chuckled a little bit, looking over at Fox, and shaking his head. "You've always been a spoiled bitch, Fox, sleeping on those palace sized beds with the best mattresses. It takes some real bad events for someone like you to enjoy something like this, huh?"

Fox let out a loud groan, throwing a shirt right at Falco's face, hitting a bullseye. "Oh shut up will ya? You are the most annoying bird I know, I swear." Falco in the meantime was being the responsible one and actually putting the shirt in Fox's luggage area, before getting back into bed. "Fox, I'm like one of the only birds you know, now why don't you get some sleep. Clearly, the prince needs his beauty sleep."

"Asshole." Fox said.

"Dickhead." Falco retorted.

It wasn't too long after that, the two had completely dozed off, though one thought lingered in Fox's mind before he did. "...What was Wolf planning for them tomorrow?"


End file.
